Ex-police chief of Helotes is sentenced to jail

Updated 10:40 pm, Friday, March 8, 2013

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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Ex-Helotes, Texas Police Chief Morton Ault (center) is led out of the 379th District Court Friday March 8, 2013 after being sentenced by Judge Ron Rangel for an alleged swindling scheme involving the repair of police vehicles. Ault was sentenced to eight years of probation and six months in jail plus financial restitution for the alleged scam.

Ex-Helotes, Texas Police Chief Morton Ault (center) is led out of the 379th District Court Friday March 8, 2013 after being sentenced by Judge Ron Rangel for an alleged swindling scheme involving the repair of

Ex-Helotes, Texas Police Chief Morton Ault (right) is led out of the 379th District Court Friday March 8, 2013 after being sentenced by Judge Ron Rangel for an alleged swindling scheme involving the repair of police vehicles. Ault was sentenced to eight years of probation and six months in jail plus financial restitution for the alleged scam.

Ex-Helotes, Texas Police Chief Morton Ault (right) is led out of the 379th District Court Friday March 8, 2013 after being sentenced by Judge Ron Rangel for an alleged swindling scheme involving the repair of

So far, $10,000 has been returned in the 11 months since pleading no contest to abuse of official capacity.

Under terms of the plea, prosecutors agreed to remain silent regarding his probation request if he was able to reach the $10,000 mark before the sentencing hearing, which originally was set for last June. The hearing was postponed a half-dozen times as Ault's attorney asked for more time to raise money.

Ault, a 22-year Helotes Police Department employee who spent his last four as chief, agreed to never work in law enforcement again.

His legal woes began in August 2010, when the City Council tipped off the Texas Rangers to allegations he was funneling money to his adult son, Morton Roy Ault. The elder Ault was fired two months later.

“Everyone from the mayor to the city manager to the City Council was aware that his son was doing repairs to police cars ... and he'd do them sometimes in the parking lot of the police station,” defense attorney Bobby Barrera said. “This is not something he was hiding. He did violate the law, but he had no intent to go out and commit a crime.”

Barrera said his client “fell on his sword,” having taken a plea to protect his son from prosecution.

But the chief's intentions didn't appear that innocent to prosecutors.

Ault and his son set up a shell company called Too Tall Electronics that was registered to their home address, authorities alleged. Helotes officers later told the Texas Rangers that repairs the city was billed for were never made.

“He was indicted for work that was never performed,” prosecutor James Ishimoto said. “It seems to me the defendant played a much larger role than he wants to admit.”

Ault did not address the judge during the hearing, but he did submit a five-page letter in which he noted problems in his personal life and lashed out at Helotes Mayor Tom Schoolcraft.

His troubles began, he wrote, after he confronted Schoolcraft for using city-issued credit cards for personal expenses and after the mayor asked him to target nonresident motorists for speeding tickets.

“I was shocked and I told the mayor that was illegal and cannot be done,” Ault told the judge of the alleged speeding ticket conversation. “He then became angry once again and his face turned red and (he) walked away from me towards City Hall.”

Schoolcraft could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.

Adriana Biggs, chief of the district attorney's white-collar-crimes unit, said the letter is the first her agency has heard of such allegations. A defendant doesn't have to be under oath to submit a letter, she pointed out.

“These words are coming from now an individual who has been sent to jail, so you have to consider the source ... and the timing,” she said.